Cubs owners see dollar signs in proposed video screen

The hand-operated scoreboard at Wrigley was constructed in 1937, 23 years after the stadium opened. (Brian Cassella, Chicago Tribune)

To end more than a century of World Series futility, the Chicago Cubs say they need a level financial playing field.

And that means, team officials say, adding a huge video screen to Wrigley Field, a vintage ballpark that in many ways appears unchanged since it opened in 1914.

While the Ricketts family, which owns the Cubs and the ballpark, is embroiled with neighboring rooftop owners and the city in a political battle over a proposed $300 million renovation of Wrigley, all sides appear to understand that the team must add an oversized television to a designated Chicago landmark and national baseball shrine.

Economics demand it.

Sports and marketing executives say Wrigley is the only major pro sports facility in the country without Diamond Vision or one of the other brand-name video screens sometimes referred to as Jumbotrons. The Boston Red Sox, who play at historic Fenway Park, were the most recent to join the club, installing one in 2011. The industry continues to thrive because stadiums feel compelled to replace their models with larger ones, just as fans at home have moved well beyond their 32-inch tube televisions to large HD panels.

"This is about winning, bringing our fans a world championship," said Cubs spokesman Julian Green. "The revenue that we can generate from signs, the Jumbotron, and some of the other features that we're trying to do in the stadium, this helps put money back onto the field."

Green declined to speculate on the advertising revenue potential of the screen, but industry sources said a screen at a ballpark like Wrigley could generate several million dollars a year, perhaps as much as $5 million. Over 20 years, that would represent nearly one-third of the renovation cost.

But the extra revenue may be only part of the story. To keep fans coming to the ballpark, the Ricketts family must add a big screen, just as they need to refurbish the bathrooms, add new dining facilities, rehabilitate the clubhouse and make all the other repairs the 99-year-old stadium needs, experts say.

"We start at a competitive disadvantage every season when you look at other ballclubs who are able to provide a higher level of amenities, as well as being able to generate revenue," Green said.

Think of the ballpark video screen as an outdoor TV station. Teams mix replays, statistics, commercials, and entertainment such as trivia questions, noise meter graphics or character races on the screen before, during and after games.

"First and foremost, the reason you have a video board is to be able to present the game in a state-of-the-art manner," said Brooks Boyer, chief marketing officer for the Chicago White Sox. "Whether it's replays, information about the park, information about the players, we use it as a game operations tool."

Besides generating revenue and adding value to the price of the ticket, a huge electronic scoreboard represents a defensive play to keep fans from deserting the ballpark, executives say. Tech-savvy fans expect a robust multimedia experience, in part because of the proliferation of video on tablets and smartphones.

"You've got Jumbotrons in your pocket," Boyer said.

Some baseball purists will decry the idea of a giant video screen at bucolic Wrigley Field as a crass intrusion. But the Cubs have conducted several surveys in recent years, asking fans what changes should be made at Wrigley Field, and an increasing number have said they would like to see a video screen, Green said.

"It's not as simple and easy as it was years ago to sell tickets," said Jerry Cifarelli, president and CEO of New York-based ANC Sports, a sign technology company. "You really need to give the fans an experience when they come to the ballpark that is every bit as good or better than the experience that they have in front of the TV set at home."

But that may be a more difficult argument to make for the Cubs, who have a national fan base, a ballpark considered a shrine by many and an attendance of nearly 2.9 million last year — 10th in the majors — despite a miserable 101-loss season.

"Wrigley attendance is not driven by whether there's a Jumbotron or not," said Kevin Adler, president of Engage Marketing, a Chicago-based sports marketing firm. "What's driving this for the Ricketts family is the fact that they're leaving money on the table."

The Ricketts family has been pursuing a Wrigley Field makeover since buying the Cubs in 2009 from Tribune Co. in a deal valued at $845 million. (Tribune Co., parent of the Chicago Tribune, retains a 5 percent stake.) Sources say the team envisions a 5,000-square-foot, high-definition video screen rising behind the left field stands.